Gabriel Gomez on Gun Control

Start with expanded background check tied to mental health

Q: You say you are for expanded background check, but perhaps the issue that Markey has hit you hardest on is gun control.

[VIDEO CLIP] MARKEY: My opponent opposes an assault weapon ban. My opponent opposes a ban on high capacity magazines that attach
to those assault weapons that turn them into weapons of war.[END VIDEO]

Q: So that's his point. Yes, you may be for the expanded background check, but you are against the assault weapons ban, and the high capacity magazine ban.

GOMEZ: This is an example of Congressman Markey not knowing how to solve the problem. In order to need to solve the problem, we need to ban all weapons from the wrong people.
That's what's going to make our communities, our schools and our kids safer. In order to do that, we have to pass the expanded background check and tie it to mental health.

A lot of people in the GOP are wrong on gun control

The two again sparred on gun control. Gomez said "a lot of people in my party are wrong on gun control," and that he was "ashamed" only 4 Republicans voted for a Senate bill that called for wider gun background checks. Markey said the background checks
were only a start. He criticized Gomez for not supporting a federal assault weapons ban.

In one of the evening's sharper exchanges Gomez said it was "beyond disgusting" that
Markey raised the Newtown, Conn., school shooting in a television ad that faulted Gomez for not supporting a ban on high capacity magazine clips. "To think that you are the only political candidate to actually invoke the Newtown massacre for political
gain is beyond disgusting," Gomez said.

Markey responded by saying, "Mr. Gomez thinks that when we talk about the differences between the two of us on very important issues, that somehow or other we are engaging in negative politics. We are not."

I oppose the NRA on expanded background checks

Markey said Gomez "does not support banning assault weapons. He does not support banning the high capacity magazines that attach to those assault weapons," Markey said.

The discussion pivoted on gun control for much of the first 1/2-hour, with a lively
exchange on the issue. "I want to go down to Washington to fight the NRA," Markey said.

"I oppose the NRA on expanded background checks," Gomez responded, saying we "need to fix this problem." Gomez reiterated his support for a bipartisan piece of
legislation that would expand mandatory background checks for gun purchases. That legislation, sponsored by Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, failed in the Senate earlier this year.

Markey argued that the bill
is the minimum that ought to be done on gun control, noting it was supported by a West Virginian. He said a Senator from Massachusetts should support broader gun control measures in the age after the shooting at the Newtown, Conn. elementary school.

In favor of closing the gun-show loophole

Gomez touted his moderate positions, and today emphasized the views he shares with many Democrats in the deep-blue Bay State. "Listen, I'm a firm Republican, I'm a conservative Republican, but I also have some issues where the Republican Party
might not completely agree with me," he said. "I'm going to go down (to Washington) to represent the people of Massachusetts." Gomez noted he is in favor of closing the gun-show loophole, opposed to striking down Roe v. Wade, and is pro-gay marriage.

Source: Boston Herald on 2013 MA Senate debates
, May 1, 2013

Tie gun sales to mental health checks

Winslow and Gomez said they would support the [recent gun] bill. Gomez said the bill is what he has always supported, closing the gun show loophole and tying sales to mental health checks. But Sullivan said the bill does not solve the problem of keeping
guns out of the hands of criminals and those who are adjudicated mentally ill.

Winslow briefly dragged Gomez into a dispute by referencing a letter Gomez wrote to Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick seeking the interim Senate appointment, which has been
Gomez's Achilles' heel. Gomez wrote that he supported Democratic President Barack Obama in 2008 and agreed with Obama on immigration and gun control. Gomez conceded during the debate that the letter "was worded poorly."

Gomez later said he only
supports some of Obama's positions. Gomez responded that he supports closing the gun show loophole but not banning assault weapons. He acknowledged he could have worded the letter differently.

I am a strong Second Amendment supporter

As a former U.S. Navy SEAL, I am a strong Second Amendment supporter. Our freedoms make America the most unique and prosperous country in the world. The President and the Congress must act now to forge consensus
and compromise to close the gun show loophole, and to keep weapons out of the hands of those with mental health issues. We must not, however, take away freedom for law-abiding citizens in the process.